Now this is open to all and sundry that the policies adopted by US President Bush during the war on terror were wrong. The wrong policies of Bush are the main reason of failure in war on terrorism. He has chosen wrong people in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan for fighting the war in the region. There will be no denying the fact that the United States has provided huge funds to the leaders of these countries, but no one knows where the money was spent.

Now there are indications that President-elect Obama will be following the policies of Bush. He will be again investing money on the wrong people. Islamabad is the small part of Pakistan. The US leaders instead of confining themselves to the capital of Pakistan should directly come to the people. Though they will be having concern for their security, I think security is not the problem. If the US leaders want to defeat terrorism then they must kill terrorism which is in their body. The ground reality is that the people of tribal areas have great love for Barack Obama, as they think that he may become their savior. The following is the statement of Obama.

President-elect Barack Obama has expressed his resolve to forge a closer American cooperation with Pakistan towards dealing with the problem of violent extremism along Pak-Afghan border as part of a regional approach that his administration intends to pursue after taking charge next week.

Interacting with the media upon Vice-President-elect Joseph Biden's return from a visit to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, Obama described al-Qaeda as number one threat for the United States. "As Joe (Biden) indicated, we have to take a regional approach, we are not going to solve the problem just in Afghanistan, we are going to have to address issues in Pakistan as well," said Obama, who will take oath as US president on Tuesday (January 20). He said: "(Osama) Bin Laden and al-Qaeda are our number one threat when it comes to American security."

Biden was confident of prospects of progress in the region. "I have been encouraged by the trip, the assets we have in place, the progress and cooperation that is incrementally occurring, I have come more encouraged, rather than less encouraged. I think you will have the assets to increase the prospects of success."

Biden said he undertook the visit to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq at the behest of the president-elect "with the express purpose of assessing the situation on ground, to make a determination what the situation was, what the problems were," and report back to Obama for a way forward.

The vice-president elect, who met with top political leaders in Islamabad including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as well as senior military leaders, acknowledged the Pakistan's importance vis-a-vis peace and security efforts, saying "Pakistan's position on Afghanistan is going to affect our ability to succeed in Afghanistan"?.

He underlined the need for building political institutions in all three countries and said focus on personalities is not the answer to problems. "There is a need to build institutions, political institutions that are sustainable in each of the three countries.

Personalities--focusing on personalities--is not the key to success in any of one of the three countries. And, we conveyed that notion to each of the countries in question. And they all had slightly different and significant different problems."

Biden also told newsmen that the bipartisan delegation "went to listen, not to convey policy, (since) as the president-elect has stated, we have one president at a time. And so, I made it very clear in speaking with every leader, literally, we met with in each of the three countries, military as well as civilian--I made it absolutely clear that I was not there to make policy. I was there to listen but to listen and occasionally express concern about some of their actions or lack of actions." "On Afghanistan," he said, "there is going to be a 'significant shift' in the form of a 35,000 troop deployment in the insurgency-hit country.

Muhammad Khurshid, a resident of Bajaur Agency, tribal areas situated on Pak-Afghan border is journalist by profession. He contributes articles and news stories to various online and print newspapers. His subject matter is terrorism. He is also (more...)